High School Woes
by Adwoax3
Summary: It's time for the Naruto gang to go to high school. Sakura found summer love, but now it's time for school. When faced with her longtime love or her summer love, who will she choose? SasuSakuGaa NejiTen NaruHina eventual InoKiba ShikaTem


Sakura couldn't have been more excited for her first day of high school. _I can't believe I've come this far,_ she thought brightly. She could sense that it would be a great day. And why wouldn't it? She would spend another amazing year in school with her girlfriends: Hinata, shy, but loyal to a fault; Tenten, sporty and extremely trustworthy; and Ino, her loudmouth best friend who was always ready to stand up for one of them. And of course, she was looking forward to spending time with the boys as well: Lee, her freakishly obsessed, but admittedly adorable stalker; Neji, Hinata's stoic cousin who was always worried for their well-being; Choji, pudgy and reliable; Kiba, flirtatious, but caring; Shikamaru, lazy, but a true genius; Naruto, insanely irritating, but always there in times of need; and last, but not least Sasuke, the guy she's had the biggest crush on for as long as she's known him.

_But this year will be different,_ she thought determinedly. In previous years, she had been the biggest member of his fanclub. She was willing to do anything to even have him look in her direction. However, during her summer vacation she'd met a boy who taught her that there were so many more important things that she could be doing. She blushed thinking about his seafoam green eyes – the green eyes that held so much pain. She fell asleep thinking about her time in Suna.

"SAKURA! GET UP OR YOU'LL BE LATE!" She jolted up, eager to get a start on her day. A sense of anticipation settled into her stomach and she rocketed out of bed ready to start her day. She showered, brushed her teeth, washed her face, and blow dried her hair. Next, she chose her outfit. After some deliberation, she chose white short shorts to show off her tan and a hot pink t-shirt along with some white and pink sneakers. She checked herself out in her mirror then headed out of her room. She grabbed a bagel and bade her mother goodbye and began her trek to school.

Her walk to school was peaceful, but unfortunately, she didn't see any of her friends. She had an amazing summer in Sunagakure and she couldn't wait to tell her friends all about it. Finally, on the front yard of the school, she saw Hinata and Neji, punctual as usual. However, it was a bit of a surprise to see Tenten as well. She wasn't known to be early to anything, but Neji was, so it wasn't hard to figure out why she'd made the effort.

"Hinata!" Sakura yelled loudly before tackling the poor girl. "Sakura!" Tenten squealed before giving Sakura a taste of her own medicine.

Once their reunion was over, Sakura decided to point out Tenten's newfound punctuality "Say, Tenten, I don't ever recall you coming this early for school before."

"I … Well … You see … It's never too late to start" Tenten stammered, blushing and glaring at Sakura. Sakura simply smirked at Tenten, knowing exactly why the sudden change in heart had occurred. Inwardly, Tenten vowed to get revenge on Sakura.

"Good Morning, Neji," Sakura greeted. Neji acknowledged her greeting with a head nod. Tenten turned and resumed her conversation with Neji, while Sakura wondered how in god's name Tenten could hold conversation with the human ice cube. _There are some things in this world I will never know_, Sakura thought to herself.

"Sakura," Hinata spoke, pointing at a couple holding hands and crossing the street, "Look, here comes Ino."

"Oh. My. God. Is she holding hands with Shikamaru?" Sakura choked out, "No way! The pig got herself a boyfriend!"

Ino was grinning like a Cheshire cat the entire walk to school. She was holding hands with her boyfriend. Her_ boyfriend_. She had always been close with Shikamaru and over the summer their relationship had turned romantic. She couldn't wait to tell her friends the story and rub it in their faces a bit. She always knew she'd be the first one to get a boyfriend. She'd even gotten one before Tenten and she was a year older!

Once Ino spotted her friends, she shrieked, sprinted over, jumped Sakura then latched onto her waist with her legs. Laughing at Ino's antics, the other girls came around in a group hug. Admissions of missing each other came pouring out as the four friends walked inside the school building. Their school was a small one, and there was only one class for the 9th and 10th graders. Within 10 minutes of the girls reaching their classroom, 11 of the Konoha 12, the nickname for their group, had arrived. The one who hadn't was our favorite blonde jinchuuriki. The remaining had begun talking about their summer vacations.

"So, Ino," Sakura began slyly, "It seems like you had a good summer," she casually motioned over to a sleeping Shikamaru, "Spill, pig."

Ino smirked. Sakura had changed so much from when they were kids. "We were practicing taijutsu and it just happened"

Ino remembered the day vivdly. _She was breathing heavily. She had been slacking off in her training, but luckily, it looked like Shikamaru was out of breath as well. She aimed a punch at his head, but he dodged it. Frustrated, Ino released a flurry of punches and kicks, but none seemed to connect. When he smirked, it pushed her over the edge. She launched herself at him. Shocked, Shikamaru could do nothing but fall on his back, with Ino on top of him, straddling his waist. She smirked at him and said, "Well, looks like I win this time, _Shika-ku –!_" Before she could finish saying that embarrassing pet name, Shikamaru flipped them over and said, "Oi, Ino. Looks like you were wrong. Again." Fuming, Ino began to struggle, not aware of their compromising position. Ino bucked her hips, surprising Shikamaru and used his momentary lapse in attention to flip them over into their original position. She did a small victory dance, completely forgetting that she was sitting on a _certain_ part of Shikamaru's body. It was then that she felt – literally – the consequences of her dancing. She immediately clambered off of his body and held out a hand to help him up. After awkwardly stammered apologies from both ends, they locked eyes, both red-faced and breathing heavily. They leaned forward subconsciously and their lips met in a sweet kiss._

"So Sakura," began Ino, "How was Suna?"

Sakura blushed a bit before answering, "It was great. I had such a good time and I met some amazing people" _An amazing guy._

"From the look of that blush, those 'amazing people' must have been hot boys. So you had a beau in Suna, huh? Spill."

Sakura's blush turned even darker as a spotlight seemed to be shined on her. Even Sasuke looked mildly interested. _Busted._ "I … He … Hi –"

Sakura's explanation was cut off by Naruto bursting through the door. "Did I miss anything yet?" he bellowed.

Ino cut Sakura a look that said, _this isn't over yet. _Sakura sighed in relief that she knew to be only temporary. Ino could be ruthless when it came to finding out what she wanted to know.

Her dreading was interrupted when Iruka-sensei walked into the room.

"As you all know, the people you are seated with are the same people you'll go on your Wednesday missions with," Iruka-sensei droned, "In the front row on the left will go Bei Sasame, Kurosuki Karashi, and Hangoshi Kaori. In the front row, on the right will be Rock Lee, Haeki Tenten and Hyuuga Neji." Inwardly, Tenten cheered, even though she knew that they would keep the same groups throughout the rest of their years at the school (Their team is a year older.) _Maybe I'll finally find the courage to tell him how I feel_, Tenten thought hopefully.

"Behind Sasame's row will sit Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto." Sakura's heart soared with the stars then fell to the depths of the sea within a 2 second span. She was elated to be grouped with Sasuke, but horrified at having to sit with Naruto.

"Across from them are Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata, and Aburame Shino." Kiba was quite disappointed in the seating arrangement. _Ugh, I was hoping to be in a group with Sakura and Ino, but instead I'm stuck with the mousy friend. Just my luck. _

"Lastly, the table behind them will seat Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Choji." Ino was delighted to be sitting next to her boyfriend, but was a little uneasy about being grouped with Choji. She was afraid of him slowing them down on missions. Typical Ino, judging based on appearances.

"In order to battle effectively and efficiently, communication is key. First assignment. Find out what your teammates did this summer, their plans for the future, and who their role models are."


End file.
